Canada’s Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps claim pairs bronze at Four Continents Figure Skating Championships | CBC Sports

Canadian national champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps reached the podium in the pairs event at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, securing bronze with a score of 193.84 total points in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won gold with 208.24 points after maintaining their lead from Friday’s short program, while Americans Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe moved past the Montreal duo in the free program to claim silver (201.11).

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps went awry when she put her hand down on their throw triple flip, then during a messy triple salchow when he fell and she spun out. They rallied to finish strong and secure the bronze medal.

“Just finishing that program with all of those lifts was hard,” an out-of-breath Deschamps said.

WATCH | Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps secure pairs bronze at Four Continents:

Canada’s Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps claims pairs bronze at Four Continents

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada finish third in the pairs competition at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.

Fellow Canadians Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished one spot behind Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps with 186.33 points, while Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier finished seventh out of the nine pairs (167.67).

Stellato-Dudek, a 39-year-old who came out of retirement after more than a dozen years away from the sport, became the oldest athlete to win a Grand Prix event in November alongside Deschamps at the Grand Prix de France.

Competition in Colorado Springs continues Saturday night with the men’s free program.

The Four Continents championships bring together the top skaters from non-European countries, a final tune-up for next month’s world championships in Japan.

Miura and Kihara became the first Japanese pairs skaters to win the title after overcoming a couple of mistakes in their free skate.

Unbeaten in international competition this year, Kihara spun out on the final double axel of their opening jump sequence, and the pair was sloppy on their triple salchow and throw triple flip. But it was still good enough to score 137.05 points to easily outdistance the Americans.

Miura and Kihara collapsed to the ice after their program, set to the musical project “Sleeping at Last,” and tried to catch their breath in the thin air of the Broadmoor World Arena.

“It was really tough skating at this altitude,” Kihara said, “but the cheers of the audience kept our legs moving.”

WATCH | Japan’s Miura, Kihara win pairs title:

Japan’s Miura, Kihara win pairs title at Four Continents

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan win the pairs competition at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships with a score of 208.24.

The only thing to stop Miura and Kihara this season has been a storm: They had to withdraw from the Japanese championships when a winter storm caused them to lose their luggage en route from Canada, and with it their skates.

Otherwise, the seventh-place finishers at the Beijing Olympics have swept the NHK Trophy and Skate Canada along with the Grand Prix Final.